Nicholas Courtney 1929 - 2011

[smudge]

Mausoleum Club and many other sources are reporting the death of Dr. Who actor Nicholas Courtney at the age of 81.

Sad news indeed - Nicholas was a charming gentleman who always had time for his fans.

Respect and R.I.P.

Smudge

[wadsy]

More sad news. I can't believe he was 81!! R.I.P. Brigadier!

[Gerald Lovell]

I'm very sad to learn of the death of Nicholas Courtney, who I was so pleased to meet on several occasions, particularly a very drunken evening/night/morning in Manchester. Such a pleasant person to talk to, a great sense of humour and with no airs and graces. A real gentleman.

Farewell, Nick.

[Windthrop]

RIP Nicholas - saw him on stage a number of times - fine performer.

[Gerald Lovell]

Mods - I know Nick appeared in a programme about time travel, but could you change the year of death to 2011?

[CaptainWaggett]

Oh that's sad. I saw him in the Mousetrap years ago. A couple of years ago he rang the library with an enquiry and I recognised his voice instantly. I know he'd been ill for a while - his recent role in the Sarah-Jane Adventures was rather curtailed and I think other appearances cancelled.

[Steve Crook]

Mods - I know Nick appeared in a programme about time travel, but could you change the year of death to 2011?

Done

Steve

[smudge]

Mods - I know Nick appeared in a programme about time travel, but could you change the year of death to 2011?

Did I typo the original? Sincere apologies.

Welcome to Greyhound Leader - The home of Nicholas Courtney & Michael McManus

Nick's official website has since broken the news.

Smudge

[didi-5]

RIP Brigadier. Always a welcome presence in the old Whos and I believe he reappeared in the first Sarah Jane Adventures series?

[Fellwanderer]

RIP, Brigadier.

[billy farmer]

R.I.P. Nicholas Courtney.

The Brigadier is one of my favourite characters from classic Doctor Who, it was great to see Nicholas Courtney appear in The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2008, i met Nicholas Courtney when he did a signing at The Television And Movie Store in Norwich on January 19th 2008, he came over as a very friendly person.

[Harbottle]

Very sad news, The Brigadier and Jon Pertwee were very much my era of Doctor Who so sad that they are both gone now. RIP

[Arfur Teacake]

Very sad news, The Brigadier and Jon Pertwee were very much my era of Doctor Who so sad that they are both gone now. RIP

Yes totally memorable characters, never forgotten.

[wellendcanons]

Very sad news. I've seen Nick as the Brigadier a number of times very recently as I'm watching a lot of Dr Who episodes at present. He's also had good appearences in Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint, The Avengers, The Champions and Jason King. I've enjoyed his work. He's always been an actor I've looked out for since his days as the Brigadier. He will be sadly missed.

Nicholas Courtney.
wec

[Nick Dando]

From the Guardian

Nicholas Courtney obituary | Television & radio | The Guardian

Nick

Nicholas Courtney obituary
Actor best-known as the unflappable Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in Doctor Who

Toby Hadoke
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 23 February 2011 18.52 GMT

The actor Nicholas Courtney, who has died after a long illness at the age of 81, spent 40 years, on and off, as the unflappable Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the long-running TV science-fiction series Doctor Who. Typical of the much-loved character's stoicism in the face of the incredible were his instructions when confronted by a snarling gargoyle in the 1971 story The Daemons: "Jenkins, chap with the wings there, five rounds rapid." Despite such moments of humour, in Courtney's hands the character was no stereotypical Colonel Blimp, but a brave soldier who would risk his life for his country (and indeed, the Doctor).

Courtney first appeared in the series opposite William Hartnell, as the doomed space security agent Bret Vyon in 1965. The director Douglas Camfield, a military aficionado, admired Courtney's bearing and was shocked to discover that he had risen no higher than the rank of private during his national service. Nonetheless, he offered him the role of a captain in the Patrick Troughton serial The Web of Fear (1968), but when David Langton dropped out of the production before rehearsals, Courtney changed roles, replacing him as Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart (returning a year later, promoted to brigadier).

When Troughton left in 1969, the budget-conscious BBC exiled the new Doctor, Jon Pertwee, to Earth to act as scientific adviser for Unit (the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce), with Lethbridge-Stewart now a regular as commanding officer and chief foil.

For five years he greeted successive alien invasions of the Home Counties with resigned British pluck while his pragmatic militarism occasionally threw up moral quandaries for the peace-loving Time Lord. The relationship ultimately softened, and though he appeared less frequently towards the end of Pertwee's tenure, Courtney stayed long enough to ease Tom Baker into the title role. He maintained ties with the show, appearing with Peter Davison (1983) and Sylvester McCoy (1989), and the character was even given a heartfelt nod by David Tennant's Doctor in Russell T Davies's recent revival.

Born in Cairo, the son of a diplomat, Courtney underwent a cosmopolitan, if somewhat disjointed, childhood. He was educated in Egypt, France and Kenya, and won the Margaret Rutherford medal at the Webber Douglas Academy of Drama which he joined after national service.

Following wide repertory experience, he had notable stage roles in the West End, including playing opposite Celia Johnson in The Dame of Sark (1974-75) and two stints (in different roles) in The Mousetrap (1986-87, 1993‑94), and played the Narrator in the Rocky Horror Show in a 1979 tour. He was also a member of the BBC Radio repertory company.

Though theatre was his first love, and John Gielgud his inspiration, Courtney was pragmatic about the financial security offered by television, notching up a hefty CV over four decades including roles in No Hiding Place, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), All Creatures Great and Small, Juliet Bravo, Yes, Prime Minister, Casualty, and regular parts in the comedies French Fields and And Churchill Said to Me. His final broadcast roles were as the archbishop of Canterbury in the Ewan McGregor film Incendiary (2008) and a last campaign for Lethbridge-Stewart in the CBBC Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008). A further appearance was planned but ill health intervened.

He remained close to Doctor Who throughout his career, contributing to DVD commentaries, conventions and the Children in Need charity episode, Dimensions in Time (1993), which enabled him to notch up an appearance with Colin Baker, the one Doctor he missed from the original series run. When asked who his favourite was, both Courtney and the Brigadier gallantly always gave the same answer: "Splendid chap, all of them."

He published two volumes of autobiography, Five Rounds Rapid! (1998) and Still Getting Away With It (2005). Despite his no-nonsense demeanour and quintessential Britishness, he was not afraid to admit to bouts of nervousness and depression, although without self-pity, and he was always the first to send himself up.

Unfulfilled ambitions included doing more Shakespeare and playing Crocker-Harris in The Browning Version, but he was happy with his lot and bore his final illnesses with stoicism and grace. He is survived by his second wife, Karen (nee Harding), and two children, Phillip and Isabella, from his first marriage, to Madeleine Seignol.

• William Nicholas Stone Courtney, actor, born 16 December 1929; died 22 February 2011

[sanndevil]

Last time I saw him was c2003 in a pub just off Regent Street having a quiet pint with Tom Baker on a Saturday lunchtime. A few other patrons spotted him and Tom and went over for a chat - he appeared very friendly and in good health. I was too awestruck to chat myself. As a kid I was fascinated by Dr Who and loved his performances. A sad loss. RIP Nick.

[Windthrop]

There's a lovely tribute on Tom Baker's website

Tom Baker Newsletter | Latest news | Nick Courtney | Brigadier is dead

[jimw1]

Very sad News Indeed..........R.I.P. Nicholas Courtney....

[julian_craster]

Courtney (left) as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart with Doctor Who (Jon Pertwee)

Daily Telegraph
Nicholas Courtney
23 Feb 2011
Nicholas Courtney - Telegraph

Nicholas Courtney, the actor, who has died aged 81, was best known to Doctor Who viewers as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, the longest-serving co-star of the popular science-fiction series, appearing opposite five television Doctors.

His earliest Doctor Who appearance was in 1965 as Special Space Security Agent Bret Vyon opposite the original Doctor, William Hartnell, in the epic “The Daleks’ Master Plan”. But for most Doctor Who fans, he will be remembered as Lethbridge-Stewart, stalwart of UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce), the organisation that kept Earth safe from alien invasion. The character is said to have been modelled on Lt Col Colin “Mad Mitch” Mitchell, the colourful officer in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders who led the reoccupation of part of Aden in the late 1960s.

Originally intended to play Captain Knight in the 1968 episode “The Web Of Fear”, with Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, Courtney was promoted to the role of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart by the series’ director, Douglas Camfield, when the original actor pulled out.

Courtney returned later that year in “The Invasion” promoted to Brigadier . Camfield made him wear a series of false moustaches in order to appear older than he was, before Courtney finally grew his own.

Appearing as one of the main characters throughout the incarnation of Jon Pertwee as the third Doctor in the 1970s, Courtney also appeared in two stories featuring the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, before returning – retired and teaching Maths at a boys’ school – opposite Peter Davison (Doctor number five) and finally opposite Sylvester McCoy, the seventh Doctor, before the series was cancelled in 1989.

Courtney then reprised the part for two dramas on BBC Radio and a number of audio adventures released on CD. Although mentioned a number of times in the revived series of Doctor Who, Courtney made his final appearance in character in 2008 as Sir Alistair in the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures.

William Nicholas Stone Courtney was born on December 16 1929 in Cairo, the son of a diplomat, and grandson of WL Courtney, a one-time leader writer and literary editor of The Daily Telegraph. He spent a peripatetic childhood as he followed his father’s postings and was educated in Egypt, France and Kenya.

After completing his National Service in 1950, Courtney enrolled at the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art and in 1952 went into weekly repertory, his first job being an actor-cum-assistant stage manager at Cromer, before a move to London took him into television.

His first appearance was as a warrant officer in the 1957 series Escape. He was King Charles II in Looking About and Mark Norman in an episode of No Hiding Place. From the 1960s he appeared regularly in shows like Callan and Sword of Honour, as well as popular fantasy genre titles like The Saint, The Champions, The Avengers, and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

After his departure from Doctor Who, Courtney took parts in shows such as All Creatures Great And Small and Sink or Swim (both alongside the actor Peter Davison), Shelley, Yes, Prime Minister and Only Fools and Horses; in 1982 he also played Lt Col Robert Witherton in Then Churchill Said to Me, which was postponed because of the Falklands conflict and only screened in 1993.

In 1997, Courtney became honorary president of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. For more than 20 years he served on the council of the actors’ union Equity.

He wrote two volumes of autobiography, Five Rounds Rapid! (1998) and Still Getting Away With It (2005); his memoirs were released on CD as A Soldier In Time in 2002.

Nicholas Courtney, who died on February 22, is survived by his second wife Karen, and his son and daughter.

[classic-odeon]

This is very sad news. Nicholas Courtney and Jon Pertwee where such a big part of my life when growing up in the 1970’s, they were the dream team. I was fortunate enough to meet them together in 1996, which has to be the highlight of my life as a Dr Who fan. “Benton, chap there with the wings… Five rounds rapid”. You’ll be very much missed Brig, RIP